Discrimination lawsuit filed against Bass Pro

Brian Lockhart

Updated 11:04 pm, Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Artist rendering of the Bass Pro Shop to be built on the Steel Point property in Bridgeport, Conn. Bass Pro Shops, a destination for fishermen, boaters, outdoor enthusiasts and tourists across the U.S. and Canada, is now scheduled to open in 2014.

Photo: Contributed Photo, Bass Pro Shop/Contributed Photo

Artist rendering of the Bass Pro Shop to be built on the Steel...

Angler and television host Jimmy Houston speaks at an event to announce Bass Pro Shops as the first tenant in the Steel Point redevelopment in Bridgeport on Sunday, July 8, 2012.

Photo: B.K. Angeletti

Angler and television host Jimmy Houston speaks at an event to...

Mayor Bill Finch, right, unveils the Bass Pro Shops plan as the first tenant in the Steel Point redevelopment at a kick off event in Bridgeport on Sunday, July 8, 2012.

BRIDGEPORT -- A federal hiring-discrimination lawsuit against Bass Pro Shops, which plans to open a 150,000-square-foot mega-store in heavily minority Bridgeport, passes the sniff test, said a U.S. District Court Judge.

"The EEOC has worked diligently to list almost 200 potential claimants who ... are black and Hispanic applicants who have been denied employment by defendants," read Ellison's 22-page decision.

Ellison did raise questions about some of EEOC's charges, including a claim the alleged institutional racism begins at the top with orders from Bass Pro founder Johnny Morris.

During a visit to Bridgeport last summer, Morris said the city's store was his first in an urban center. It will employ an estimated 300 at the long-dormant Steel Point redevelopment on the harbor.

But Ellison concluded when Morris' comments are considered in totality with the other evidence EEOC outlined, the case survived the Bass Pro's motion to dismiss.

"It gives us the green light to go forward and try and prove our claims," said Tim Bowne, a senior EEOC attorney assigned to the case.

Bass Pro, in a statement Wednesday, said it is confident the EEOC's allegations will be proven false. The company said it has a history of full compliance with laws against employment discrimination and has policies and procedures in place to fulfill that mission.

"A core principle of this company is respect for our associates and our customers. We treat everyone the way we would expect to be treated," said Mike Rowland, vice president of human resources.

This was federal officials' second attempt at moving the hiring discrimination lawsuit forward. Filed in September 2011, the charges were dismissed last May without prejudice, meaning EEOC had another opportunity to make its case to Ellison and also give Bass Pro more information to defend itself.

That first lawsuit was nine pages. The amended document was 247 pages.

Among the new specifics were allegations that Morris, at a managers' meeting in 2004 or 2005, signaled he did not want minorities on the payroll when asked about racial quotas.

"This company will never have a quota system because that's not the kind of people I want working in my stores," Morris said, according to documents filed with the court.

"The court agrees with (the EEOC) that Morris' statement reflects racial animus," Ellison wrote. "(But EEOC) has failed to link Morris' comment to the decision to deny any individual claimant a job ... The words are not considered `direct evidence.'"

Bass Pro Wednesday said the company "categorically denies" Morris made a racially insensitive remark.

"There were numerous people present at this meeting and the company is confident that their testimony will prove that these statements are totally false," Bass Pro said in the company's statement. "No determination has been made by the court Mr. Morris in fact made the statement ... Rather, at this stage of the case, the court is required to `assume' that the EEOC's allegation is true."

Bass Pro's decision to open in Bridgeport has been widely viewed as a godsend for the city's economy and a significant victory for Mayor Bill Finch's administration.

The store, now set to open sometime in 2014, would be located at Steel Point, a harbor front parcel that has been dormant for three decades as one administration after another tried to break ground there.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration is still negotiating a package of financial incentives with Bass Pro.

The EEOC's lawsuit has not diminished that initial enthusiasm for the project. Finch's mention of Bass Pro on Tuesday during an address to business leaders drew a round of applause.

Bridgeport City Councilwoman Lydia Martinez, D-137, who represents the Steel Point neighborhood and is a chairman of the economic development committee, said she and her council colleagues have discussed the EEOC's lawsuit.

"We've said, `Bridgeport is Bridgeport and when he (Morris) comes here, he has to hire people in our community,' " Martinez said.